Sunday, August 5, 2001
[ MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ]
Fat lady may sing The prospect of Benny Agbayani's departure from the New York Mets appeared to move from possible to imminent yesterday.
‘Benny and the Mets’
Agbayani should know by
Tuesday if he will be tradedFrom staff and wire reports
According to multiple baseball executives, the former St. Louis School and Hawaii Pacific University standout was claimed on waivers, most likely by the San Diego Padres, who have shown interest in Agbayani.
With the waiver claim coming Friday, the Mets have two business days to either trade Agbayani, let him go to the team that claimed him or pull him back and keep him for the rest of the season. The team must make a decision by Tuesday morning Hawaii time.
"I wouldn't be shocked," Agbayani said Friday when asked by the New York Post if he thought he might be traded.
If Mets manager Bobby Valentine has his way, the Mets will keep Agbayani, who has long been a favorite of the former Hawaii Islander.
Valentine has said repeatedly this season that Agbayani has produced as many quality at-bats this season as almost any Met. As Valentine sees it, Agbayani has had one brief stretch of bad games this season, and he had a good excuse. Just before the All-Star Game break, Agbayani was preoccupied, with his wife, Niela, due to deliver their first child any day in Hawaii.
Valentine says Agbayani's mind is clouded again because of reports that the Mets have placed him on waivers as the prelude to a trade. So Valentine left Agbayani out of the lineup for the Mets' 4-2 victory yesterday over the Arizona Diamondbacks, even though he said Agbayani deserved to play.
"Benny should be playing, but there was all this stuff about that situation with him and waivers," Valentine told the New York Times. "I don't want to bother his head with it. He's swinging too good to have him be confused when he goes out there."
Agbayani has indeed been swinging the bat well of late. He is 18-for-47 (.383) with seven RBIs in his past 15 games. And he seemed to disagree with the decision that he needed a mental break from playing, but said: "What am I going to do? Go into the office and start pouting? I'm not that kind of guy."
Agbayani has spoken with his agent, Dan Horwits, about the situation.
"I know what's going on," Agbayani told the Times. "I'm not bothered by it. I'm just pleased other teams are looking at me. I'd be worried if other teams weren't interested in me."
Mets general manager Steve Phillips does not value Agbayani as much as Valentine does, preferring longtime prospect Jay Payton.
Agbayani had a solid 2000 season, batting .289 with 15 home runs and 20 doubles in 350 at-bats. His strong suit was the ability to reach base. His on-base percentage was .391 last season, second on the team behind Mike Piazza.
But Agbayani has not developed the power stroke the team had hoped. Though he is hitting .285 this season, he has hit only five home runs and 12 doubles in 253 at-bats. His on-base percentage has fallen to .360.
And the Mets' recent trade for Matt Lawton has further tightened an already crowded outfield. Lawton is expected to start regularly in right, leaving two spots for Agbayani, Tsuyoshi Shinjo, Payton, Joe McEwing and Mark Johnson. Plus, Timo Perez and Alex Escobar are expected to be recalled next month.
Despite all those factors, Phillips will not simply give Agbayani away. His salary this season is just $260,000 and he will not be eligible for free agency for four more seasons.
If he is traded to San Diego, Agbayani's salary might not be much better than it is in New York. The Padres recently acquired Ray Lankford, who is due $7.6 million next season, and also seem committed in the long-term to Mark Kotsay and Bubba Trammell. Future Hall of Famers Tony Gwynn and Rickey Henderson and youngsters Mike Darr and Emil Brown also figure into the outfield mix, though Gwynn will retire after this season and Henderson is not expected to be re-signed.
